14 DAY TRIAL // The next iteration of Windows was released into public Beta just three months ago, and is making its way toward Release Candidate stage, with the RC, RTM, and GA dates still undisclosed, but Microsoft is now claiming that Windows 7 is coming up soon. The Redmond company has not shared the deadlines for the delivery of the upcoming development milestone RC, let alone the dates when it plans to release the operating system to manufacturing, or when it will kick off general availability. But claiming that Windows 7 is right on track to come up soon places the GA milestone long ahead of the early 2010 date to which Microsoft has officially stuck so far.
And yet, “soon” still sounds like months away, just in case you were planning on holding your breath. However, Microsoft is indeed getting ready for the availability of Windows 7, and plans to offer an Alpha of the Windows 7 Logo Program Toolkit by the end of this month, and the first Beta in May 2009.
“The Windows 7 launch is coming up soon, and we're doing everything we can to help ISVs get their apps compatible and certified for our new consumer OS,” revealed John Pelak, an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) architect evangelist with the Microsoft United States ISV Team. “Those who wish to be notified as program updates are made available and when tools are released can opt-in to receive email notifications via the following link.” (emphasis added)
Microsoft has already released the final documentation associated with the Windows 7 Logo Program. The resources offered through the Microsoft Download Center are designed to help independent software vendors to understand the technical requirements and eligibility criteria for the program.
“We will be releasing an Alpha of the toolkit sometime towards the end of March, which will help validate application compliance with logo requirements. Until then, the OEM Ready tests are actually a pretty good baseline for Windows 7 Logo compliance,” Pelak added. “A beta of the toolkit should be available towards the end of May. In additional to providing automated tests to validate an application for compliance, we will start accepting submissions at that time as well.”